High and dry for 27 hours

Littlemoor House: left high and dry

Residents in 24 flats at Littlemoor House were without water for more than 27-hours after a valve failed.

The tower block at the junction of Huddersfield Road and Ripponden Road was hit by supply problems at 2pm on Tuesday on four floors.

And it wasn’t until 5.30pm yesterday that residents could flush toilets and fill kettles.

First Choice Homes Oldham said it was down to work by United Utilities, but the water company said it was several hours before it was called and blamed a failed valve.

Resident Sylvia Wood said the water went off without warning, so she called the council’s First Response service.

She said: “It was so frustrating. Nothing happened and I rang again in the morning, and they kept saying it was being attended to.”

A spokesman for United Utilities said the problem was only reported to them on Wednesday morning.

A spokesman added: “After extensive investigations we discovered that a valve which supplies water to the building had failed.

“It has now been repaired and water was fully restored by 5.30pm yesterday. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The block is managed by First Choice Homes Oldham.

A spokesman said: “We were informed of loss of water on Tuesday.

“We immediately investigated and found that water was supplied to the first four floors but was not reaching the four floors above.

“It was due to work being done by United Utilities in the area which reduced the water pressure to such a degree that it was not able to reach above the fourth floor at Littlemoor House. This was entirely out of our hands.”